One will Perish, One will Thrive
by Goldenscar
Summary: Sade River has been kidnapped. Jack Sparrow has a complete breakdown, Karissa Norman must try to keep everything organized aboard the ship, and Nettle faces being first mate. The final story in the series! Will Sade River or Davy Jones triumph?


**Annnd… for the fourth and final book in the Sade River series! I would like to thank EVERYONE who has ever reviewed my stories- that would be lindam2254, who is making a Kingdom in Heaven story featuring my dog, sherlockianfangirl, and SketchBookBitch. Thanks so much! And please, read and review!**

Karissa Norman

So… the last few days have been interesting.

Like, really interesting. You want to know how interesting? My best friend was about to start dating a pirate before she got kidnapped by some guy she was prophesied to defeat. Said guy has a face-full of octopus tentacles.

Meanwhile, I'm captaining the _Ocean Pearl_. Sort of. There's another captain, too. His name? Jack Sparrow. He's the pirate my best friend, Sade River, is dating.

"Karissa? Er… Captain Karissa?" I whirled around to see my first mate, Nettle. Nettle had long black hair and brown eyes that pierced your soul, made you question your very existence.

"Karissa's fine, Nettle," I said, laying back. "How's Jack?"

Nettle bit her lip and strode forward to stand beside me. I had been staring out into sea, observing the waves. "Jack… he's still in his cabin. He refuses to come out, Karissa. Sade's father is pacing back and forth. He won't leave Barbossa alone. Sade's mother is in her cabin. She's crying, I think. Linda's with Indira, they're trying to plot a course exactly where Davy went off to. That leaves you. And me. And Gibbs, who's at the helm. The rest of the crew's below decks."

She gazed expectantly up at me for orders.

I ran my fingers through my brown hair, which had been long, but I had cut it short the day before. "Nettle… is there any way we can go faster than this?"

"Captain, Jack Sparrow's ship, the _Black Pearl_, is the fastest ship in the Caribbean," Nettle informed me. "Do we have the time to turn back to Tortuga and-"

"No! We don't!" I yelled. Nettle shrank back, retreating a step or two. "I… sorry, Nettle. But I'm going after my best friend, and nothing in the world is going to stop me. Except hunger. Which can be easily fixed.

"Where does Sade keep her dried pineapple?" I asked Nettle.

She shrugged. "Jack probably knows."

"Of course he does," I sighed. "Look, Nettle, get some sleep. It's 4:00 in the morning, for heaven's sake!"

Nettle sighed, rolling her eyes up to the inky blackness of the night. "Karissa, you haven't slept for days."

"Has anyone?" I pushed past her and began to walk briskly toward Sade's cabin. I couldn't think of it as my own. I just couldn't.

Nettle dashed in front of me and crossed her arms. "Gibbs has."

I stared. "What?"

"Gibbs. He's slept. He slept last night," she explained.

I blinked, then remembered my rhetorical question. "Oh. Well, that doesn't count. Gibbs always sleeps."

"You have a point," Nettle admitted, sighing.

"And if someone on this ship is going to sleep, it shouldn't be the captain. It should be the loyal first mate who's overworked herself horribly the last couple days. Now go on. Go to bed!"

Nettle looked partly relieved that this was her captain's orders as she scurried off to obey. I smiled a little as I watched her.

Sade's cabin had never seemed so empty before. Even when there was someone inside it. Even when that someone was refusing to let you in.

"Jack!" I called, pounding on the door. "Let me in! You're lucky I never really needed to sleep, because otherwise, I would have broken this bloody door down!" I kicked the piece of wood separating me from food. "C'mon, you bloody, infamous, useless, scoundrel of a pirate! Open the bloody door!"

When I felt the doorknob rotate slightly, I knew it was because Jack Sparrow had finally decided to heed my orders.

When it opened, he crossed his arms and glared at me, and I wondered why he was so cross, then remembered I had insulted him. "Oh! Um… sorry?"

He grunted and opened it wider. Sade's bed covers were rumpled. Had Jack been sleeping in her bed instead of his cot? Weird.

Jack's trademark smirk had gotten kidnapped along with Sade. His hair was even more tangled than usual, and his eyes were bloodshot, bleary, and dripping with tears mixed with kohl. Jack Sparrow… crying… told you life was interesting.

"What do ye want?" he snarled at me. One hand stayed firmly on his sword. While I was noticing this, my eyes strayed further down and I realized his boots weren't on.

"Just some dried pineapple," I said, putting my hands up in surrender.

To my surprise, he drew his sword and put it to my throat. "That's Sade's pineapple."

"Jack!" Shocked, I stumbled back a couple steps. "It's me! Karissa! Don't you see? Karissa Norman?"

He relaxed slightly, and his sword fell, though he still kept it hovering around my waist. "Any news?"

I glanced at the weapon warily, signaling him to put it away, which he did. "None, except that you've gone crazy. What have you been doing in here?"

"Umm…" he glanced around, after letting me in. "Sleeping. Eating. Drinking. Nothing else, really. What's it like out there?"

"Terrible. Everyone's really, really, really depressed. But Sade wouldn't want it this way. She's want us to go, full steam ahead. Not waste time letting our emotions tamper our good feelings."

"What good feelings?"

"Oh, um…" I shrugged. "The good feelings that every human being feels naturally. The kind you should start feeling. Jack Sparrow, you need to poke your nose out that door. Really."

And with that, I departed (with a bag of dried pineapple).


End file.
